A national online survey found that many parents are providing support – everything from housing and transportation to cash for living expenses and spending money – to their adult children.

“Sixty-five percent of adult children – those ages 18-39 who are not in school – believe the financial pressures faced by their generation are tougher than those experienced by previous generations,” the National Endowment for Financial Education reported, citing its survey conducted in conjunction with Forbes and Harris Interactive [1]. “And parents seem to agree, with one in three (32 percent) saying their own generation had it easier than their children’s generation. Additionally, 43 percent of parents providing financial support say they are doing so because they are ‘legitimately concerned’ with their child’s financial well-being.”

However parents should be careful to avoid harming themselves financially, the president/CEO of the Endowment said, adding: “We all want to ensure the best for our children. But if you are taking on extra debt or delaying retirement to help your adult child, you could be making a mistake and putting your own financial future in jeopardy.” (June 2011)